Why are certain charters on the top of everyone's lists? What is the magic that makes them so loved?

[Anonymous]

Hey, everyone --

I know this question may sound silly to many, but...

I know that there are highly coveted public charters for PK3 and PK4, like LAMB and Two Rivers. But the DC CAS scores (for later grades) and public charter report cards for these schools do not look very promising, with nearly a third of students not performing at proficient or advanced levels. When compared to the high-performing DC public schools (I know there are not many), these charters don't look very promising at all. I know there must be a lot more to a good school than scores -- would someone like to pitch in on what makes some of these star schools so loved?

Many thanks.

[Anonymous]

The charters are EOTP and unlike JKLMM, Stoddert, there's an equal chance for OOB families to get in for PreK4. JKLMM does not offer preK3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hey, everyone --

I know this question may sound silly to many, but...

I know that there are highly coveted public charters for PK3 and PK4, like LAMB and Two Rivers. But the DC CAS scores (for later grades) and public charter report cards for these schools do not look very promising, with nearly a third of students not performing at proficient or advanced levels. When compared to the high-performing DC public schools (I know there are not many), these charters don't look very promising at all. I know there must be a lot more to a good school than scores -- would someone like to pitch in on what makes some of these star schools so loved?

Many thanks.

Scores just give you a snapshot of where the students are (sort of). I consider a good school to be one that can teach the kids well - increase where they are no matter where they started.
Ask yourself: "what kind of education will my child get at this school"?

[Anonymous]

^ this. It's not about scores for me. My kids Re at SWS, have vastly different personalities, but all receive exactly what they need to in any given day.

I'm less concerned how my kid might do on the DC-CAS than whether or not she wants to go to school every day, and is being taught in a manner that is interesting and fun.

I actually won't be surprised if SWS' scores don't come back amazing this year, for me, who has been at the school for 4 years, it will be a testament to their Reggio ideology. There is more to life than nailing down the grammar, and it will all come when it comes. I'm so thrilled and so grateful that I get to send my DCs into a place every day that encourages their wonder, and where they feel loved. They legitimately are loved, and that is such a gift. The staff respects and enjoys each other and they teach the kids to make connections in their lives to look at the silver lining. THAT makes it a coveted schools, not the scores.

[Anonymous]

The highest scoring DCPS schools have pretty affluent families, which is the factor most predictive of student scores. A school with high poverty (FARMs rate) that has high scores compared to other schools with similar demographics is doing something right.

[Anonymous]

Most HRCS have barriers to entry of one sort of another -- originally it was the individual lottery application process, now it's the siblings of those who got in initially -- that exclude the city's poor and disenfranchised.

Their absence makes everyone else feel better. It's called "creaming".

[Anonymous]

I don't see how your posts answer the question at hand.

[Anonymous]

Two things -

1) What the PP from SWS said about the kids being loved, the staff being respected and a sense of wonder being imparted...I suspect parents would say that these are present at many if not all of the HRCS.

2) While the actual test score may not seem obejectively "high," compared to the majority of the city, they are much, much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how your posts answer the question at hand.

Yes, they do. The OP asked what people saw in some charters that don't score as high on tests. To sum up the answers roughly: we care about how well our kids are taught, not the average score.

[Anonymous]

For Lamb, the bilingual aspect is the draw, and the main building is decent now

[Anonymous]

Do kids stay at lamb all the way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't see how your posts answer the question at hand.

Yes, they do. The OP asked what people saw in some charters that don't score as high on tests. To sum up the answers roughly: we care about how well our kids are taught, not the average score.

The populations that attend HRCS are there because they choose to be. That makes everyone a lot more comfortable with one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The charters are EOTP and unlike JKLMM, Stoddert, there's an equal chance for OOB families to get in for PreK4. JKLMM does not offer preK3.

JKLM...M? I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When compared to the high-performing DC public schools (I know there are not many), these charters don't look very promising at all. I know there must be a lot more to a good school than scores -- would someone like to pitch in on what makes some of these star schools so loved?

Test scores are highly correlated with SES. The population of the charters is considerably more diverse (in terms of SES, race, and ethnicity) than the WOTP high-performing DCPS schools (assuming that those are the high performers you are referring to). Families can buy their way (via real estate purchase/rental) into high-performing DCPS schools, and they cannot do the same for charters. Additionally, many of the charters are still very "young" in terms of school age, and are not yet testing full cohorts of kids who've been all the way through the school.

In short, your individual high SES kid will likely have the same test score whether he's at Janney or E.L. Haynes. But the aggregate scores of those schools are very different due to the factors listed above.

[Anonymous]

The DCCAS mean nothing for the students, other than the drudgery of testing. The test is much more important for the teachers and administrators and their jobs. I don't care if my child even takes the test -- she is reading 2 grades ahead and loves going to school. Our family is higher SES and that seems to be the best predictor of educational success.